Or make that two. Julie & Julia runs the culinary adventures our eponymous heroines and their supportive husbands side by side. And there’s the rub. From the opening scenes of the two pairs moving house, Julie (Adams) to Queens circa 2002 and Julia (Streep) to France circa 1949, the audience is presented with a “great, big, good fairy,” in Julia, while Julie comes across as woeful, cranky and “9.3 narcissistic.” Ephron may be commenting on the changing nature of marriage and indeed women in society, and yet the result is a longing to stay with the warm and whimsical Julia.
Which is not to say Streep’s Ms. Child is a mere fairytale. While she is indeed larger than life and wonderfully funny, in one incredibly moving moment Streep allows us to see the pain of this childless woman that seeps through her sunny façade. The love is palpable too, with Streep and Tucci’s bringing an even greater chemistry than their pairing in The Devil Wears Prada.
Alas Adams and Chris Messina as Julie’s patient husband Eric pale in comparison with their Parisian counterparts. Julie’s ambitious project – to cook her way through Ms. Child’s tome Mastering the Art of French Cooking – fares much better on her blog and in the resulting book (Julie & Julia), than it does on screen.
ImageAside from the absolutely sumptuous food, Streep steals this show. So you’d do well to bring a snack to the cinema and follow her character’s advice: Bon Appétit!
3 Stars
3 Stars
This review was published in The Brag.
Australian release date: 8 October 2009
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